Are you looking for a one-pot, set-it-and-forget-it option for making cannabutter and other oil infusions? This easy, quick, and efficient method using the Instant Pot will significantly decrease the smell while leaving you with a fully decarbed and infused final product. Learn how to simplify the process with this helpful guide today.
Table of Contents
Features
- An easy method to decarb and infuse cannabutter OR infused oil
- Significantly decreases the order associated with the process
- Want to make it easy? Skip the process, buy my Bliss cannabutter instead, and have it shipped directly to your door!
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
It’s no secret that I love using the crockpot for cannabutter and other infusions.
But I was hooked when I learned you could kill two birds with one stone by using the Instant Pot to decarb AND infuse butter or oil.
Not only is this process so simple, but it also significantly decreases the odor associated with the decarboxylation process.
Just place all ingredients in the Instant Pot, and you can clean the house or make dinner while the cannabis is decarbing.
Then, add your oil of choice, set the slow cooker option, and get back to work (or relaxing!).
I’m constantly trying to make life easier for my Well With Cannabis Community, so I created this post with step-by-step instructions to decarb and infused quickly and easily.
Read on to learn how to decarb and infuse simultaneously.
Ingredient Notes
- Cannabis flowers: Use your desired amount of cannabis, ranging from 3.5 grams to 1 ounce. Check out the flower-to-oil ratio guide if you need help deciding how much to use. Next, select your preference for THC, CBD, or CBG-dominant flowers. You can purchase from your local dispensary or my online shop here.
Depending on the flower you use, with this method, you can create:
- CBD cannabutter
- Kief cannabutter
- CBD oil
- CBG energy and focus oil
- CBN sleep oil
- AVB (already been vaped) oil
Butter or Oil, choose one:
- Butter or ghee: Unsalted butter, clarified butter, and ghee all work great in this recipe. However, clarified butter and ghee are preferred by many because it eliminates a final step at the end. Regular butter will cause separation.
- Oil of choice: Coconut oil, olive oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil, MCT oil, hemp seed oil, and more
Depending on the oil you use, with this method, you can create:
Note: a complete list of ingredients with amounts and printable instructions is located in the recipe card below.
The Step-by-Step Process
- Step 1 – Place your desired amount of cannabis in a mason jar and add a lid to fingertip tightness (not too tight). You do not need to grind the cannabis; break it into small, popcorn-sized pieces.
- Step 2 – Place the jar on the trivet or in the steamer basket.
- Step 3 – Place the trivet or basket in the Instant Pot.
- Step 4 – Add 4 cups of water to the Instant Pot.
- Step 5 – Secure the lid.
- Step 6 – Set the Instant Pot to cook on high pressure for 40 minutes.
- Step 7 – After 40 minutes, carefully release the pressure.
- Step 8 – Remove the jars from the pot and set them aside to cool.
- Step 9: Add your desired amount of butter or oil to the jar.
- Step 10: Add a lid and twist to fingertip tightness (not too tight).
- Step 11: Place the jars back in the trivet or steamer basket and return them to the water bath.
- Step 12: Select Slow Cook – LOW mode and set it for 4 hours.
- Step 13: While the butter is infusing, prepare your straining area. Whether it be a paper filter and funnel, cheesecloth, French press, or a simple coffee filter, you will want to set up a straining station to separate the plant matter.
- Step 14: After 4 hours, remove the jars from the Instant Pot. Once cool enough to handle, strain the butter with your method of choice. You can save the leftover cannabis pulp for use in future recipes.
- Step 15: Add the strained butter or oil to whatever jar you would like to store it in. If making butter, place the container in the refrigerator and allow it to cool completely. You will need to drain off the milk solids at the end of the process.
- Step 16: Enjoy your infusion!
Note: complete step-by-step printable instructions are located in the recipe card below.
Storage Instructions
Store the butter in the refrigerator according to the expiration date on the butter you used, or store it for even longer in the freezer.
Oil can be stored at room temperature for several months.
If you are storing the butter in the fridge or freezer, never use the microwave to soften or thaw the butter, as it could destroy the cannabinoids and ruin the final product.
Learn how to store edibles here.
Determine The Dose
Want to get a more accurate guesstimate of the potency of your cannabis infusions and extractions? Try my popular edibles dosage calculator. Not sure what your perfect dose is? Learn more here.
Choose The Right Decarb Time
Each cannabinoid decarboxylates at a different temperature, so it’s essential to select the appropriate time based on the flower you have.
Use this guide to select the decarb time that is right for you.
Decarb Times
- THCA โ ฮ9-THC – bake at 240ยฐF/116ยฐC for 40 minutes
- CBDA โ CBD – bake at 240ยฐF/116ยฐC for 90 minutes
- CBGA โ CBG – bake at 220ยฐF/105ยฐC for 60 minutes
- ฮ9-THC โ CBN – bake at 240ยฐF/116ยฐC for 180 minutes
Notes and Expert Tips
- If using butter, note that you will end up with less butter than you started with. This is because you will remove the milk solids and evaporate the excess water.
- Using clarified butter or ghee eliminates the need to clarify your butter and strain milk solids.
- If doing an oil infusion, you can optionally add in lecithin. Do not add this if infusing butter.
- You can make a more potent cannabutter or oil by adding decarbed kief or cannabis concentrates like distillate or FECO.
- Just want to decarb but NOT infuse? Check out this simple guide for decarbing in an Instant Pot
- Helpful Tip – If you use butter molds, we recommend using a spoon to get the pure, infused butter into the first full stick of the mold. You will only need to remove the milk solids from one stick.
- Looking for more recipes? Check out this cannabutter board, these 25 cannabutter recipes, or these tasty no-bake cannabutter recipes.
- Ready to bake your favorite brownies and cookies? Have no fear; it is OK to bake your cannabutter at higher temperatures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Instant Pot infusions can be brand new to even the most seasoned cannabis consumer, so here are some of the most common FAQs I get asked from my Well With Cannabis Community.
No worries! You can also use a crockpot, a stovetop, or an infusion machine.
There are SO many! From sweet to savory, check them out here.
Check out my beginner’s blog posts and join the Well With Cannabis Community. for additional support and resources.
It depends on how potent you want your end product to be. For a less potent product, add more butter. For a more potent product, add less. Follow my cannabis flower-to-oil ratio chart to make a batch size perfect for you. If you’re using trim or kief, adjust accordingly. If you want a very potent product, make kief butter instead.
No worries, if you’re unhappy with how your cannabutter turned out the first time, you can follow my guide to fix weak cannabutter. Keep in mind the color does not indicate potency.
Join thousands of like-minded cannabis lovers from across the world inside a censor-free forum where you can explore the health benefits of cannabis and truly learnย what it means to live Well With Cannabis โ
Recipes To Use Your Cannabutter
Take your edibles to the next level…
My Edibles Made Easy Online Cooking Course will teach you how to easily make cannabis edibles and topical recipes at home. This step-by-step video course will teach you how to infuse, extract, and create edibles with many different product types – all from the comfort of your own home.
Instant Pot Cannabutter or Oil Infusions
Ingredients
- ยฝ ounces cannabis flower, buds, trim, or kief
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
Instructions
- Place your desired amount of cannabis in a mason jar and add a lid to fingertip tightness (not too tight). You do not need to grind the cannabis, just break it up into small, popcorn-sized pieces.
- Place the jar on the trivet or in the steamer basket and place the trivet or basket in the Instant Pot.
- Add 4 cups of water to the Instant Pot.ย
- After your selected time, carefully release the pressure. Remove the jars from the pot and set them aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, add your desired amount of butter or oil to the jar.
- Add a lid and twist to fingertip tightness (not too tight). Place the jars back in the trivet or steamer basket and return them to the water bath. Select Slow Cook mode on LOW and set it for 4 hours.
- While the butter is infusing, prepare your straining area. Whether it be aย paper filterย andย funnel,ย cheesecloth,ย French press, or a simpleย coffee filter, you will want to set up a straining station to separate the plant matter from the butter or oil.
- After 4 hours, remove the jars from the Instant Pot. Once cool enough to handle, strain the butter with your method of choice. You can save theย leftover cannabis pulpย for use in future recipes.
- Add the strained butter or oil to whatever jar you would like to store it in. If making infused oil, the process is over.
- If making butter, you will need to drain off the milk solids at the end of the process.ย Place the container in the refrigerator and allow it to cool completely. During refrigeration, the infused butter will harden and solidify. Remove the solid block of butter and drain the remaining liquid which is the unwanted, leftover water and milk solids.
- Store this in the refrigerator according to the expiration date on the butter you used, or store for even longer in the freezer.
Hey random question, what if I set the jar outside to Decarb? Would that work? Would it infuse in oil or is this not possible?
Hi Joe. Thanks for reaching out with your random question about decarbing. We’re here to help!
While it might sound tempting to place the jar outside for decarbing, it’s important to note that outdoor conditions most likely don’t provide the consistent and controlled heat required for effective decarboxylation. Outdoor temperatures can fluctuate, which could lead to uneven heating and insufficient decarbing.
When it comes to infusing oil, once you’ve properly decarbed your cannabis, you can add it to a jar of oil and let it infuse. There are various techniques that use the mason jar method for infusing oils with cannabis and some people opt for cold-infusion methods, which involve steeping cannabis in oil over an extended period without heat. The cold-infusion method may be considered with infusing outdoors. This is not a process we are familiar with, but if you experiment with it, we would love to know how it goes for you!
I hope this helps clarify your question! If you have any more inquiries or need further assistance, feel free to ask. Happy experimenting!
The first part of the process cecarbs the cannabis. The second part, after adding butter or oil can be achieved in just 20 minutes rather than four hours by continuing to use the cooker on high. A conventional stove top pressure cooker can also be used in the same way. If you are going for maximum potency, adding already infused oil to a second lot of decarbed bud will bring your product to next level.
I use this method with virgin olive oil. The oil can be used in cooking as a replacement for butter or taken using a teaspoon. My preference, however, is using an eye dropper to fill 000 size capsules. This size capsule will hold approximately one millilitre, given the you cannot fill the rounded top of the capsule. With double infused olive oil, I find this to be a nice dose.
When next I follow this receipt, I intend to add a teaspoon of liquid lecithin to see if this has any effect on potency.
Hi Joe. Thank you for feedback. Our readers appreciate when others share their processes! We appreciate it too. Happy infusing!